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bios virus?

I've been reading a debate over at the dell computer forums (http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19603395) in which people are claiming that the computers on their lans were infected with bios viruses. One dell forum spokesperson is vehemently denying that there is such a thing and says that the bios can be damaged but it can't be infected with a virus.

The people claiming they were infected are saying that the virus infects the bios and is able to boot the computer and that when they try to flash the bios, that the virus reinserts itself.

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In 2011, malware was detected that achieves persistence via reprogramming of the BIOS on systems with an Award BIOS.

Here is how it achieves persistence via the BIOS: if the infected disk is removed, and replaced with a new disk with a new installation of Windows, and the computer starts up, the malicious code in the BIOS will execute and check the MBR.

If the MBR is not infected, it will infected the MBR. Then the MBR executes and infects the brand new Windows installation.

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And although BIOS viruses exist, they are rare and not generic...meaning it's vendor specific and cannot modify all types of BIOS.

Fortunately, as the below articles note, it's highly unlikely you will encounter a BIOS-level scenario as it is not practical for attackers to use such an exploit on a grand scale. Malware writers would much rather target a large audience through social networking where they can use sophisticated but less technical means than a BIOS virus.